


Woke Up Something (inside of me)

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Anti Ward, F/M, First Kisses, Healing, Love, Lovers, PTSD, Romance, Thanks Ward, friends - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-21
Updated: 2014-07-21
Packaged: 2018-02-09 19:18:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1994778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even Ward's gross comments can't stand in the way of Skye and Coulson.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Woke Up Something (inside of me)

Something was off.

And it wasn't just that the mission had been a close call.

They'd had close calls before.

Something had been triggered.

Coulson had seen PTSD up close and personal. He had even experienced it himself, although he'd managed to hide it and wondered if it wasn't contributing significantly to his current very sleepless state.

So when he entered the gym and watched Skye furiously punching on the sandbag, he was determined to open up that line of questioning.

He knew she knew he was in the room, but she kept going, and he stood behind the bag, holding it, while she kept punching, ignoring eye contact.

"If you're going to stand there and stare at me," she said, briefly making eye contact with him, then looking his suit up and down. "You could at least dress the part."

Fair enough. He left the mat and took his jacket off, rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, lost the dress shoes and socks and went back to holding the bag on the mats.

"That's not what I meant," she said, finally stopping after landing a really solid punch, and slightly out of breath.

"You want to talk about what happened today?" he asked. It was sort of gentle, but sort of, well...direct.

"No," she said, eyes flaring, shaking her head at him. "Why the hell do you think I'm in here?"

She hit both fists on either side of the bag, letting him know she was going for more.

"It's just," he said, continuing talking. "I saw your face. I know what that's like, Skye."

"Chitauri scepter through the heart," she said, raising her eyebrows and hitting double fisted, pushing the bag into him. "Yeah, I bet you do."

"Was it when he cuffed you?"

Skye's eyes darted up to his. 

He looked away. That was his answer.

She started hitting again. And that was all she was willing to give him.

"It helps to talk about it," he started.

"You don't," she said, slugging the bag from the side, making it hard for him to hold onto.

He bit his lower lip as he tried to steady the bag. Redirection. Okay.

"You've never shared about that," she said, sighing, looking over at him. "You talk about it like you left it in the past."

"That's because things are different," he said, setting his jaw, determined she was not going to make this about him. After all, he'd come here to help her.

"Different," she said, smirking. She pulled her hair out of her ponytail, put the elastic in her mouth and starting bunching it all back up again.

He wished she wouldn't do that. He was trying to have a real conversation here, and now he was staring at the messy, sweaty cascade of her hair.

Noticing his face, she just said, "I have a lot of hair, it starts to slip after awhile."

"I am different," he announced. It had come out a bit harsher, a bit more defiant, than he intended.

Skye chuckled back at him, a twinge of sarcasm to it. "Me too."

She went to start up again, but he pushed the bag forward, stopped her.

"If you don't want to tell me, fine. But, if it starts to work against you, if you can't control it? I'll have to make the right choice for the team, and..."

"It's about Ward, okay?" she said through clenched teeth.

Coulson stood back for a moment. They had talked through that, he thought. Maybe not enough.

"Look," she said, starting to unwrap the tape on her fingers. "It was just some involuntary thing. Took over when that FBI guy put the cuffs on me. Just...felt the same."

"When Ward had you trapped on the Bus," he finished. He'd remembered the red marks on her wrists for days after. They hadn't had time to talk about it, then, but the red marks had interrupted his thoughts, up until the very moment that they did sit down.

"Yes," she said, finally looking over at him. 

The expression in her eyes felt more like them. And something inside him relaxed.

"I know what that's like," he said. "You can't blame yourself for it."

"I don't," she said, shaking her head. "I blame him. And it does make me want to be a monster. He said I'd awakened something in him, well, if he wants to take it, then, I'll be the one to give it..."

She stopped when she saw the expression on his face. Realized, then. She'd given him the redacted version. 

"What?"

"It's just that..." she tried to continue, fell flat, staring away at the mat. The tape from her hands crumpled to the floor.

"What did he say to you, Skye?" he asked her.

She looked back up to him, his face was full of concern, not judgement or anger.

Taking a deep breath, she looked him in the eye, letting his expression ground her. "He said that I woke up a weakness in him, and that maybe he'd awaken something inside of me." 

"I see," he replied. "He sees that as a weakness. What a shame. What a sad, stupid, wasteful thing."

"You're right, you know," she answered, fighting off her emotions. She wanted to be so done with this. "Why doesn't it feel like it's right?"

"Skye," he started, stepping closer to her, taking one of her hands in his, and looking down at it, he squeezed it as he spoke.

"You woke up something inside of me, and, it's not a weakness. Not at all."

She waited until his eyes looked up at hers. And then she looked at the rest of him.

He shrugged, smirking a little. "I need you. I think that should be pretty obvious by now. I hope so, anyway. Maybe, I haven't done the best job of making that clear, but I..."

Skye stopped him with a kiss.

He wasn't expecting that.

A little brief, a little hesitant. Her hand on the side of his face, her hip just touching his.

"Skye," he breathed. It was a question. But already he was reaching for her.

"Yes," she answered.

She kissed him again. Or, he really let himself kiss her. 

"Is it too soon to mention that I'm in love with you?"

No, it definitely wasn't.

They'd fallen in love all along the way.


End file.
